Bottle carrier



July 3, 1962 R. E. DE PAUL 3,042,283

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed May 31, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnuerzl b 7'. fiL'C/LardZDePauZ July 3, 1962 R. E. DE PAUL 3,042,283

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed May 31, 1960 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. 1 1 9 6 20 [nveniorl fizlc/Qard l fDa czuZ United States Patent 3,4)42383 BUTTLE CARRIER Richard E. De Paul, Norristown, Pa., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 31, 1930, Ser. No. 32,736 2 Claims. (Cl. 22940) The present invention relates to paperboard cartons, and more particularly to cartons of open end, wraparound style designed to carry two rows of bottles.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved open end carrier for bottles, having retaining means at one or both open ends which will tend to prevent accidental disengagement of the bottles from the carrier.

A further object is to provide a carrier of the type referred to having a central, upstanding retaining member at one or both ends of the carrier which has combined therewith an eflective bottle separating or partition ele ment, whereby adjacent bottles at the open end of the carrier are held from outward movement and also held out of contact with each other by theretaining member.

A further object is to provide an alternate manner of forming the retaining member to achieve a relatively high degree of rigidity in such member to enable it to keep its shape even when the filled carrier is subjected to rough handling.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings- FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the carrier loaded with bottles;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the upstanding retaining member in position to engage the lower portions of adjacent bottles;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal, sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, to show the retaining members and a separate center partition, and showing inwardly extending parts on the retaining members serving as supplemental partition elements;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail view to show how the two end portions of the wrap-around carrier are brought together and how the corner portions are joined to form the retaining member;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view with the upper portions of the carrier broken away to show the retaining members and their inwardly extended partition forming elements;

FIG. 6 is a reduced scale plan view of the carrier blank, showing the manner of slitting and creasing the blank at the corners to provide the retaining members; and a FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view of one lower end portion of a modified form of retaining member having the same basic structure as that shown in FIG. 5, but with the partition forming parts folded outward and secured together to form a retaining member having greater strength to resist deformation.

The carton of the present invention, as herein disclosed, is formed from an elongated, rectangular blank of folding paperboard. The blank provides a top panel which may have openings to admit the necks of bottles. At the lateral edges of the top panel are sloping corner portions to conform to the shoulders of the bottles. The sloping corner portions connect with side walls which carry rectangular bottom sections on their lower edges. The bottom sections are secured in overlapping relation to form a composite bottom panel. The two center bottles of each of the rows are separated by the center panel of a partition member having transverse end panels to 3,642,283 Fatented July 3, 19-62 eparate the two center bottles from the adjacent bottles at the ends of the rows.

At each of the open ends of the carton an upstanding retaining member is provided to prevent outward displacement of the end bottles. These retaining members comprise triangular flaps formed by folding upward the adjacent corner portions of the bottom forming panels. These flaps carry connecting portions which may be brought into face-to-face relation and secured together to hold the retaining flaps in permanent raised position. The connecting portions extend centrally inward a sufficent distance to act as separating partions for the respective pairs of bottles at the ends of the rows. Thus, by the use of the separate partition member and the connecting portions of the retaining members, all bottles in the carrier are kept out of direct contact with each other.

Inthe alternative form of the invention the retaining member connecting portions are folded outwardly and secured together to provide increased rigidity for the retaining members. In the use of this form the partition member would be formed with end portions to keep the outer pairs of bottles out of contact with each other.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the blank from which the carrier may be made is shown in FIG. 6. This blank is cut from foldable paperboard, to have an elongated rectangular shape, and is die cut and crease scored to provide a central or top panel 16 side wall panels 11 and 12 and two rectangular bottom sections 13 and 14 designed to be joined in overlapping relation to form a composite bottom panel. The carton or carrier as shown is constructed to hold bottles and, while the invention is particularly suitable for bottles, it is also contemplated that the invention may be employed to advantage for carrying filled cylindrical cans as well as other cylindrical articles, with or without a reduced size neck portion typical of bottles.

, The top panel 10 is die cut to provide two rows of openings 15, 15 through which the necks of bottles 16, 16 may extend. See FIG. 1. The top 1.0 includes two sloping panels 10a, 10a defined from the main portion 10 by fold lines 17, 17 and from the side wall panels by fold lines 18, 18. These portions 10a generally conform to the slope of the rounded shoulders of the bottles.

The bottom sections 12 and 13 are secured in overlapping relation preferably by means of adhesive applied to one or the other bottom sections. Means are provided on the ends of the composite bottom for retaining bottles from accidental displacement from the open ends of the carrier. For this purpose the adjacent corner areas of the companion bottom sections are cut and creased to provide upwardly foldable retaining portions or flaps 20, 2t and 21, 21 and swingable portions or flaps 22, 22 and 23, 23 on the respective flaps 20 and 21. These are provided as shown in'FIG. 6 by forming diagonal creases 24 and 25 in the respective sections 13 and 14 and by forming diagonal slits 26 and 27 aligned with the respective creases 24 and 25. Additional creases 28 and 29 are impressed in the respective sections 13 and 14- extending from the corner of the section inwardly to the point of juncture between the aligned creases and slits. By this construction the flaps 22., 2'2 and flaps 23, 23 are carried by and free to swing on the respective flaps 20 and 21.

By folding the retaining flaps 20 and 21 upwardly, as best shown in FIG. 5, after the carton is in place around the bottles and by bringing the flaps 22 and 23 into face-to-face relation and securing them, as by means of adhesive, the retaining flaps will be held in upwardly directed bottle-retaining condition.

Additionally, by properly proportioning one or both of the flaps 22 and 23 so that they will extend inwardly and axially of the carrier in positions parallel to the side walls, a separating or partitioning means is provided which will keep the bottles at the ends of the rows from contact with each other. See FIG. 3. Accordingly, by use of this construction the partition member, indicated as a Whole at 32, need only provide a central panel 33 and end panels 34, 3 4 to separate the two middle bottles from each other and from the end bottles.

The modified form of the invention, illustrated in FIG. 7 is preferably made firom a blank cut and creased in the manner shown in FIG. 6, thus providing bottom sections 13a and 14a with flaps 20a and 21a foldable upwardly to serve as the bottle retaining member. Flaps 22a and 23a, which are carried by the respective flaps 26a and 21a, will be folded outwardly and arranged in face-to-face relation. By securing these flaps 22a and 23a in such relation the retaining flaps will be maintained firmly in upright position. This construction provides a somewhat more rigid structure than in the first described form. In the use of this form of the invention a separate inner partition member will preferably be provided which contains parts extending between the bottles at the ends of the rows.

If desired, a tear-cut strip 36 may be provided in one of the side walls, herein shown as being formed in side wall 11. The strip 36 is defined by two lines of weakness 37, 37 formed by cut scoring or by lines of separated short slits. Short cuts 38, 38 may be formed extending inwardly from a marginal edge of wall 11. These cuts provide a short, free tab portion which may be grasped easily to facilitate tearing out the strip 36.

In the use of the carrier, the bottle group may be supported in upright position on a thin metal blade. The carrier blank is moved down with the top panel in registration with the bottle tops so that the necks will project through the openings 15. The side walls are folded down against the sides of the bottles, with the bottom sections projecting downward, adhesive may be 'applied to the edge portion of one section, and the bottom sections are then moved to lapping relation. The supporting blade will then be removed and suitable operating devices may then be employed to displace the retaining members upwardly and into the positions illustrated. After the adhesive has set, the filled carrier is ready for delivery to sales outlets.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention provides an improved form of open end wraparound carrier, particularly adapted for the safe packaging of bottles. By folding the hinged flaps 22 and 23 inwardly and securing them in face-to-face relation, an effective retaining member for the bottles is provided. Further, when the inwardly folded flaps are made of suflicient length, they can function as partition elements and thus enable economies to be achieved due to the fact that the inner, separate partition will not require so much material. When increased marginal rigidity is desired the hinged flaps may be folded outwardly and secured in face-to-face relation between the retaining flaps.

While the present description sets forth certain preferred embodiments of the invention, various changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being bad to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. An open end carrier for bottles, such carrier being formed from foldable paperboard and comprising a pair of side wall pane-ls, a rectangular bottom wall section hingedly carried by each side wall panel on its lower edge, means for connecting the two bottom sections in lapped relation to form a composite bottom panel, a centrally located, upstanding retaining member for an open end of the carrier, said retaining member being provided from triangular portions, each formed from adjacent corner areas of the connected bottom sections, such triangular portions being foldable upwardly of the bottom along diagonal fold lines, the inwardly disposed part of each triangular portion being severed from its bottom section to allow it to swing relatively to the attached part, whereby the two inwardly disposed parts may be arranged in face-to-face contact, extending normal to the bottom wall and inwardly of the carrier, and means for securing the two parts in such face-to-face contact to hold the retaining member in upstanding condition, the inwardly disposed part on the exterior lapping wall section extending over and in edge contact with the upper surface of the inner lapping section.

2. An open end carrier for bottles, such carrier being formed from foldable paperboard and comprising a pair of side wall panels, a rectangular bottom wall section hingedly carried by each side wall panel on its lower edge, means for connecting the two bottom sections in lapped relation to form a composite bottom panel, a centrally located, upstanding retaining member for an open end of the carrier, said retaining member being provided from triangular portions, each formed from adjacent corner areas of the connected bottom sections, such triangular portions being foldable upwardly of the bottom along fold lines extending diagonally of the axis of the carrier through its open ends, the inwardly disposed part of each triangular portion being severed from its bottom section to allow it to swing relatively to the attached part, whereby the two inwardly disposed parts may be arranged in face-to-face contact, extending normal to the bottom wall and inwardly of the carrier in parallel relation to the side wall panels to hold the retaining member in upstanding condition, said parts being of a length to extend inwardly a sufficient distance to serve as a partition element to separate bottles enclosed in the carrier adjacent the retaining member, the inwardly disposed part on the exterior lapping Wall section extending over and in edge contact with the upper surface of the inner lapping section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,387,325 Goodyear Oct. 23, 1945 2,841,279 Forrer July 1, 1958 2,872,036 Forrer Feb. 3, 1959 2,877,894 Forrer Mar. 17, 1959 2,922,561 Qurrivan Jan. 26, 1969 

